Birgit Friggebo was the Swedish Minister for Housing between 1978 and 1982. In 1979, she introduced a bill that allowed the construction of small buildings which wouldn’t need a planning permit. The sheds had to be limited to under 15 square meters. These small buildings have become known as friggebod after her, and bod being the Swedish word for shed. We discovered this today while out house-hunting on and around Värmdö.
We visited Värmdö back in May 2021 when we experienced the awful blood water. Apart from the water, we enjoyed our stay on the island, visiting and exploring various places. During her search for appropriate housing, Mirinda had selected a few in the Värmdö area, which had open houses today. She put our names down for three, with a speculative request to see a fourth.
Of course, we couldn’t take the dogs, so we booked them in with Fifi for the day. We then set off. While there was a brief moment of total anxiety trying to turn left when we weren’t supposed to (there was no sign!), the trip was nice and smooth.
First up was an amazing house, high up on a hill, very modern, well appointed.
The only, real, problems were the almost perpendicular drive and the two sets of slippery, internal steps. The house itself was stunning. We fell in love with it but then, the infatuation slowly receded as we realised how difficult it could be living there.
House number two was also lovely. It had been renovated by the owner and was fabulous inside. Well, the kitchen/dining/family space was wonderful – I particularly loved the kitchen. The trouble was there was only one bedroom. While there was a second building – a guest house – it didn’t give us the two office spaces we really need. A shame because we really liked the house.
House number three was amazing. It was once two houses. They were joined in the middle and created one very long room in the middle with lots of bedrooms and bathrooms either side. It also had a decent garden area, was near boating and swimming and a convenient bus stop. This was a serious option and became a contender.
We needed a bit of a rest at this point, so we headed for Gustavsberg in order to refresh. We found an amazing konditori full of cakes, sandwiches and coffee. It was very popular, particularly given the light snow that had started to fall. The whole town looked beautifully white and clean.
Sufficiently sugar filled, we headed back to Max and set off for house number four. Mirinda had arranged with the real estate agent to meet there between his other open day appointments, especially for us to see the house. The house was not for us.
We then drove back home after collecting the girls. And, oddly, Freya has come on heat again. Fifi gave her Winnie’s nappy while she was there. Very annoying. I think she’s making up for Emma not having one.
Speaking of blood, I fell over when we tried to go and look at the boats down from the third house. I grazed a knee and was banished back to the car while Mirinda went and admired the frozen scenery. Stupid, clumsy Gaz.
Apart from the injury (and Freya) the day was a success. Tomorrow we are going to attempt to open a bank account, so we can actually make a bid on one of the houses.
